A variety of different electronic devices generate large amounts of heat that can affect their packaging. For example, amplifiers used to drive the antenna of a cellular communications tower or base station generate large levels of heat. As a result, the packaging for these amplifiers typically includes a heat sink for dissipating the heat from the amplifier. The packaging also includes an insulator that is attached to the heat sink so as to provide electrical insulation between the leads for the packaging and the electronic devices within the packaging. There is generally a large differential between the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) between the heat sink and the insulator. As a result, the interface between the heat sink and insulator can warp and/or camber in response to change in temperature. This warping can disrupt the thermal pathways within the system and can even lead to breaking and/or cracking of the packaging.
A variety of efforts have been made to address the problems that result from the CTE differential; however, these efforts have either made the system undesirably expensive, sacrificed thermal conduction, and/or reduced reliability. For instance, CPC (copper-copper/moly-copper) laminate heat sinks have been used in an effort make the CTE of the heat sink closer to the CTE of the insulator. However, these heat sinks have proven to be undesirably expensive. As a result, there is a need for an improved packaging system.